Nothing Better
by huntress33
Summary: First day at East High for Gabriella Montez. Why does she get this weird feeling in the pit of her stomach everytime she sees Sharpay Evans? Gabriella/Sharpay. TBC
1. Chapter 1

Gabriella was nervous. It was her first day at East High and her first day of junior year. She was standing outside looking up at the giant building. She felt so small compared to it. She took the small paper schedule out of her pocket and looked at it, searching for the room number of her first class. A32. Of course that didn't really help her as she had absolutely no clue where that was. She decided to go to the main office and ask someone in there. She felt a little stupid; she didn't like being the new girl and not know where anything was. But she didn't have any other choice at the moment. She had been dreading this day since she moved to Albuquerque 2 weeks ago. Her mother of course insisted that everything would be fine and she would make a ton of friends. She wasn't so sure about that. It wasn't that she though people wouldn't like her, she was just incredibly shy at first. So meeting new people had always been a difficulty for her.

After she had stopped by the office for directions she decided to go check out her locker, which the office assistant told her would be in the same hallway as her homeroom. She found her classroom and then glanced at the row of cream colored lockers. She walked down the hall until she found hers. Number 34, a top locker. Which she was silently thankful for. She'd had a bottom locker at her old school and it was always a pain to bend over or kneel on the ground to get her stuff out. There was really no reason for her to open it now as she didn't have anything to put inside but she figured she would at least make sure the combination worked. It did. She shut the locker and turned around and walked into her classroom. There were only a handful of empty seats left and she opted for the one in the back.

The girl next to her leaned over and said "I like your dress." Gabriella smiled shyly at the girl and said thank you. It had taken her a week to decide what to wear. Normally she wasn't too picky or concerned with what she wore, but today she wanted to make a good impression. So she settled on a medium length dark purple sundress with a pair of black strappy high heels. "You're welcome, it really is gorgeous."

"I'm Taylor by the way," she said as she stuck her hand out towards the brunette. Gabriella shook the extended hand, "I'm Gabriella."

"Are you new here? I don't think I've seen you before." Taylor asked. "Yeah, I just moved here two weeks ago from Seattle." Taylor opened her mouth to say something else but the ringing of the bell interrupted her. She smiled at Gabriella and said "We'll talk more after class ok?" to which Gabriella just smiled and nodded. She was feeling better about the day now. She'd made a friend already. Well at least a potential friend. She leaned back in her chair and listened to the teacher for the rest of class. When the bell rung again and class was over, she picked up her backpack and followed Taylor out the door. "Hey let me see your schedule and see if we have any other classes together!" Taylor said excitedly. Gabriella handed her the little piece of paper. She watched as the other girl scanned it carefully. "Awesome! We have 6th period History together!" Gabriella was actually really happy that she would at least know someone in one of her classes. "That's great." "Totally, so do you know where your next class is?" She asked. Gabriella shook her head and Taylor told her which direction to go and then said she would see her in 6th period.

Second period was very boring, she didn't talk to anyone, no one talked to her. She just listened to the teacher talk…again, while hoping the rest of her classes wouldn't be like this one. After class she had managed to find her 3rd period English class on her own. She found a seat on the side of the room in the middle row. The bell had rung and class had started when the teacher looked to the back of the room with a bemused expression on her face " I hope this isn't going to be a habit with you Ms. Evans." she stated. Gabriella turned around in her seat to see who the teacher was talking about. A stunningly gorgeous tall blonde girl was standing at the back of the room, making her way through the desks to an empty seat. "It's the first day, give me a break!" the blonde replied back. "Ah, Sharpay, don't play that card with me, we both know you know your way around this school just fine. Ill let it slide today but don't let it happen again." Mrs. Lockhart told her. The blonde didn't say anything back, she just sat down and took out her notebook.

Gabriella couldn't help but look at the blonde girl. She was different than most people here she could tell. She was dressed to the nines in a pink mini skirt, matching low cut top, what looked like stiletto heals and a very flashy diamond bracelet. And although she didn't know designer stuff very well, she was pretty sure that the girl had a Gucci purse. Definitely not someone who belonged in Albuquerque. For some reason, she was entranced. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the girl for the rest of the class. There was just something about her, she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. The sound of the bell broke her trance and she quickly packed up her stuff and left.

Lunch was next. She was suddenly nervous again. Was she going to have to sit by herself and look like a loner? She really didn't want to have to do that. There was that Taylor girl, but what if she didn't have the same lunch period? She walked slowly to the cafeteria and groaned inwardly when she arrived. It was huge and there were people everywhere! How would she ever find a place to sit? She sighed and thought about just going to the library instead when she heard her name being called. She turned around to see Taylor walking toward her. Thank god she thought. "Hey, wanna come sit with us?" Taylor asked as she motioned to herself and two guys behind her. The brunette gave her a relieved smile and said yes. "Great, come on, we usually sit over there." she said pointing to an empty table across the cafeteria. Gabriella followed after her. They all sat down at the table and Taylor introduced everyone. "Gabriella, this is my boyfriend Chad, and this is his best friend Troy. Boys, this is Gabriella." Taylor said nicely. Everyone shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. "So Taylor tells me you moved here from Seattle? What's it like there?" Troy asked. "Yeah, I grew up there. Its great. Rainy as I'm sure you've heard, but still great." She replied. He was kind of cute she thought. He was a little bit taller than she was, appeared to be in very good shape, with shaggy light brown hair and beautiful eyes. "So what do you think of it here so far?" he asked. "The city or the school?" "Both." "Um, well its nice, I mean, I'm used to being in a big city, so it's a little weird being in a small town. And as for the school, I like it so far. Its clean." Gabriella answered. Troy gave her a confused look. "Its clean?" She laughed "Yeah! The schools in Seattle were nice, but to be honest, they really weren't the cleanest."

"Hey aren't you hungry?" Taylor asked, realizing that Gabriella didn't have any food. "Oh no, I'm fine." Her nerves had gotten the better of her stomach and she didn't think she be able to keep anything down even if she wanted to. "Are you sure?" "Yeah, I promise. First day jitters and all, last thing on my mind is food." She admitted. "I guess I can understand that." Taylor replied. Gabriella smiled at her and then something caught her eye and she smiled wider. Everyone at the table looked in the direction she was staring at. "Ah, the ice queen makes an appearance." Troy stated in a flat tone. The brunette was confused. "Ice queen?" They all nodded and Troy answered "Yeah, Sharpay Evans a.k.a the ice queen. She is the bitch of the school." Gabriella frowned at that information. "Really?" she asked. Not believing it. "Yup, the only person she is even somewhat nice to is her twin brother Ryan." For some reason, Gabriella didn't want to believe that the girl she was so entranced with earlier, was really that horrible a person. "So I'd advise staying out of her way if you can help it." Chad piped in. She let her eyes wander back to Sharpay, who was now yelling at someone to get out of her way so she could get her food. Before Gabriella could contemplate that, Troy changed the topic and asked her if she liked basketball. "Chad and I are the captains of the basketball team, you should come to a game sometime." Taylor nodded her head enthusiastically "Yeah! This year I'll have someone to go with me when Chad makes me go!" The brunette smiled at that and nodded her head. "Yeah ok, that sounds fun." "Oh! What's your next class?" Troy asked like he meant to ask earlier but forgot. "Science, with Mr. Cook." She replied. "Sweet! Me too! I could walk with you after lunch and show you where it is?" He said excitedly. "That would be great." Again she was thankful that she would know someone in her next class. They spent the rest of lunch chit chatting and getting to know each other better and after lunch, Troy walked Gabriella to science class just like he promised.

They walked into class and sat down at a table in the back. More people filed in taking their seats just as the two of them had. Troy leaned back in his chair, surveyed the room and said "I hope we don't get assigned seats." Gabriella was about to say 'me too', when one Sharpay Evans walked in the room and suddenly Gabriella was thinking that she might not be completely against assigned seats. "Oh great, I was hoping to make it through the day without having any classes with her." Troy whined.

"Ok class, first things first, yes there will be assigned seats." Mr. cook said to the class. A collective groan could be heard throughout the room. "Yes, yes I know, it's the end of the world." He joked. "Now id like everyone to stand up and move to the back of the room."

As everyone was doing so, Troy whispered to Gabriella "This sucks. But hey maybe we'll end up sitting with each other anyway." Gabriella was glancing in Sharpay's direction. "Yeah, maybe" She replied distractedly. The teacher called out two names at a time and showed them where to sit.

"Gabriella Montez and Sharpay Evans." The teacher called a few minutes later. Gabriella could feel herself smiling on the inside and she could hear Troy whisper his apologies to her. Mr. Cook pointed to the table in front of him and both girls walked over and took at seat. The teacher continued to call out names.

"You're new." Sharpay stated flatly. "Yes, I am." Gabriella replied matter of factly. Sharpay rolled her eyes "Great, of course I'm stuck with the new kid." Annoyance apparent in her voice. "And apparently I'm stuck with a smartass." Gabriella shot back, smiling though as she said it. Sharpay just stared at her and then turned back towards the teacher.

When the teacher finished getting everyone seated he said "Ok, I have something else to tell you……The person you are sitting next to will be your lab partner for the rest of the year." There were a few "sweet's! and a few ugh's!" One of which came from Sharpay. Maybe this girl really was the bitch of the school Gabriella couldn't help but think. But she quickly shook that thought off. The teacher went on to say that they would be having 2 labs a month and they would be given a week to work on them. Always given on a Monday and always due on Friday. He then passed out some papers that had all their projects and labs listed along with the due dates. He talked for the rest of class and Gabriella wasn't able to say anything else to Sharpay. After class Troy quickly expressed his dislike again for Sharpay and then told her he had to run because he had gym next and it was all the way on the other side of the school. And then he was gone before she could even reply.

Gabriella stood in the hallway outside the class looking up and down between her schedule and the hallways. She didn't know where to go for her next class. She bit her bottom lip thinking about what to do. She was about to go ask Mr. Cook when a voice beside her said "You lost?" And oddly enough, she already knew that voice. She smiled before turning around and saying "Sort of. I have Spanish next but I'm not sure where it's at." Sharpay grabbed the schedule from Gabriella's hands and looked it over. Handing it back she said "Come with me." Gabriella followed after her. "Why are you helping out the new kid?" She asked. Sharpay stopped for a second and said "I can't have my lab partner standing around looking like an idiot because she doesn't know where to go." Gabriella let out a little laugh. "Of course, that would be bad…for _you." _"Exactly, now come on." The taller girl replied as she quickened her pace down the hall. They didn't say anything else to each other while they walked. "There you go." Sharpay said as she pointed to the Spanish room. "Thank you." Gabriella said sincerely. Sharpay didn't say anything as she walked two doors down to her own classroom.

The rest of the day went by quickly for Gabriella. She had talked with Taylor a little more in 6th period and now she was walking to the parking lot to find her car. She paused mid step when she saw a pink convertible mustang parked in a spot with a big pink signed that read 'Reserved for Sharpay Evans'. She sighed and then laughed a little. How did she get that? She wondered. It didn't appear that anyone had their own parking spot, but after today, it somehow seemed fitting that Sharpay Evans would have her own.


	2. Chapter 2

As soon as she walked in the front door of her two story house, Gabriella knew her mother was baking. The aroma of fresh baked brownies filled the air. She shut the door behind her and walked into the kitchen. She set her backpack on the ground and took a seat on one of the barstools.

"Hi sweetheart, how was school?" Maria Montez asked her daughter excitedly.

Gabriella leaned onto the counter and smiled.

"It was actually pretty great."

"See! What did I tell you!?"

Knowing her mother wanted details she continued "Yeah, yeah. I made some friends and I like my classes. It seems like a good school."

Her mother was grinning from ear to ear. She had been waiting all day to hear about her only daughters first day at East High. "I'm so happy sweetheart! Here have a brownie; I made them just for you."

"Of course you did, who else would you have made them for?" Gabriella joked as she picked up a brownie off the plate.

Gabriella hopped off the barstool and picked up her stuff.

"I'm gonna go upstairs for a bit ma."

"Ok sweetie, ill call you when dinners ready and I expect you to tell me in full detail all about your day."

Gabriella just smiled and shook her head and walked upstairs to her room. She dropped her stuff right inside her door and then walked to her bed and fell backwards onto it. She lay there smiling up at the ceiling for a good 20 minutes. She wasn't entirely why she was in such a good mood. Sure she had a pretty good day at school, but that wasn't the whole reason. There was more to it, she just didn't know what. Sighing she reached across her bed and grabbed her book off the nightstand. She figured now was as good a time as any to finish it. Sitting up on her bed and leaning against the headboard she opened the book and began reading.

She had just finished the last page when she heard her mom call her name from downstairs. 'Dinner must be ready' she thought. She made her way down the kitchen and took a seat at the table. She looked up and smiled at her mom. Deep fried tacos for dinner. Her favorite.

"I thought id make your favorite dinner tonight since you were so worried about school today" Her mom said as if reading her thoughts.

"Thanks ma, everything looks delicious."

They both dug in, filling the tacos with meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa and sour cream.

"So now tell me exactly how your day went." Maria said.

Gabriella laughed and started explaining her day. How she met Taylor, Chad and Troy. What her classes were and which teachers she thought she was going to like the best.

"Mr. Cook seems pretty cool." Gabriella was saying.

"And he's the science teacher right?" Her mom asked making sure she was following correctly.

"Yeah, he assigned us lab partners for the rest of the year already, which a lot of people didn't like but I like knowing who ill have to be working with so I didn't mind." The brunette continued. That wasn't the complete truth. It was true that she did like to know who she was going to have to work with, but she was also happy because her lab partner was Sharpay. Since she didn't know why she was happy about that, she didn't feel the need to mention that part to her mother.

"So who is your lab partner?" Her mother asked.

"Her name is Sharpay Evans."

Gabriella replied trying not to smile when she said her name. Maria Montez furrowed her eyebrows together,

"Sharpay Evans?" she asked. Gabriella looked confused. Did her mother know who that was?

"Yeah."

"Oh." Her mother said and then paused.

"Is there something wrong with that?" Gabriella asked.

"Oh I don't know. I'm sure it will be fine. Its just Sharpay is the daughter of the man that owns the company I work for. I mentioned to some people today that it was your first day at East High today. They said some things about the Evans twins." Her mother replied.

Gabriella waited for her to continue. When she didn't say anything else she asked

"What did they say about her?"

Ms. Montez didn't really want to say. Maybe they were wrong. She didn't like gossip. But Gabriella was waiting for her to answer.

"They just mentioned that she is…..a little self centered, and um, mean." She didn't know if what her co-workers had said was true or not, but if it was, she didn't want her daughter to have work with someone like that.

'Wow' Gabriella thought. '_Everyone_ seems to think she's a bitch.' She shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno, she didn't seem overly nice but I don't think she was mean. She even walked me to one of my classes." She told her mom. She didn't mention the reason Sharpay had given her about _why_ she was walking her to class though. She felt herself wanting to defend the girl and she didn't know why.

Her mom smiled at her "Well that's nice, I'm sure she's a nice girl."

That made Gabriella smile. They fell into a comfortable silence as they finished their food. When they were both done, Gabriella got up and cleared the table. It was their routine. Her mom would cook and Gabriella would clear the table and do the dishes. She really didn't mind it, she knew her mom worked hard and so she did whatever she could to help out around the house. After the dishes were done, she went upstairs and showered and got ready for bed. It was only 8 o'clock but she was already exhausted. She thought about watching a little TV but then decided to just go to bed. She climbed under the covers and ended up dreaming about a certain blonde girl.

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The rest of the week passed without incident. Nothing really good or bad happened. She had hung out with Taylor, Chad and Troy after school on Friday which was fun. They all came over to her house and Troy fell in love with her mother's brownies. Her mom seemed to like Troy a lot, and she could almost see the wheels turning in her mothers head when she asked her if Troy was single. She told her mother that they were just friends. For some reason she didn't think her mom believed her. Or she believed her but she just didn't think it would last long. Either way, her mother told Troy he was welcome in their house anytime. And he was really taking that to heart. He stopped by on Sunday afternoon for lunch. Her mom was thrilled, but Gabriella wasn't sure how she felt about him coming over unannounced. She hardly knew him after all. But so far he seemed to be a good guy so she let it go. They ate lunch and then they went for a walk around her neighborhood. After he left she went upstairs to finish up some reading she had to do for History. She had a hard time concentrating though. Tomorrow they would be given their first lab. Which means she would actually have a reason to talk to Sharpay. She tried not to think about why she was so eager to see or talk to the blonde. Thinking might lead to questions and answers she wasn't sure she was ready for. She wondered what the lab would be, if they would have to work together on it, or if they could do it separately. She was hoping it would be something they had to work on together. She wanted to get to know the other girl better. They never talked in English class, and only a little bit in Science. Sharpay wasn't mean to her, she just didn't really say much to her. Gabriella didn't want to push her luck so she didn't talk to her much either. There were usually so many things she wanted to say or ask her, but she was afraid to. Since she couldn't talk to her, she seemed to notice everything about her. Like what she wore, how she did her hair, the fact that she had a different designer purse everyday, that her legs were slender and toned and seemed to go on forever. She couldn't help but notice these things, she didn't _want _to notice them, but sometimes she felt like it was out of her control.

She glanced at the clock, 9:00 pm. 'Damn' she thought. 'I really need to finish this reading.' So she pushed all thoughts of Sharpay out of her mind for the time being and focused on reading. 20 minutes later she finished reading and got ready for bed. The sooner she fell asleep, the sooner Monday would come and she could see Sharpay again.

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	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Yeah I don't know why the last chapter was underlined, but i fixed it and now its normal. And thanks for the reviews :) And i know this one is short, there is more to it but my computer is not working properly right now so the next part will be up tomorrow evening. _

The classroom was almost completely empty when Gabriella walked in and took her seat. She had been so anxious for today that she woke up early therefore getting to class before most people. Taylor was already there. Taylor was _always _early.

The second she sat down Taylor started asking her questions. "What are you doing here so early? And why are you smiling like that?"

Gabriella didn't know why she was smiling so much, all morning she hadn't been able to stop grinning. "I don't know Tay, I can't help it." She replied truthfully.

Taylor looked at her like she was crazy but let it go. "So how was the rest of your weekend? I heard Troy came over to your house yesterday…" Taylor said while wiggling her eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

Gabriella just laughed at her. "My weekend was good, and yes he did come over yesterday." She stated.

Taylor waited for her to continue. "And?" she finally asked when Gabriella didn't offer more details.

"And we ate lunch. And went for a walk. Then he went home."

Taylor seemed slightly disappointed by that. "That's it?" She asked.

Gabriella nodded her head. "Yup, sorry to disappoint you Taylor."

Taylor sighed. "Oh well. Are you going to come to the game this Friday?"

Troy had asked Gabriella to come to the game when he was over yesterday, but she hadn't given him a definitive answer.

"We'll see, it depends on how much homework I end up having for the weekend." She answered.

"Please, please, please come!" Taylor begged. "Chad is making me go, and I don't want to go by myself!"

"I will most likely go." Gabriella replied while laughing at her friend. She was glad she met Taylor. They actually ended up having a lot in common and she was really easy to talk to. She missed her friends back in Seattle but she was thankful to find someone here that she connected with.

The time seemed to tick by unbelievably slow in her first two classes. She just wanted to hurry up and get to English class, but every time she looked at the clock only a few minutes would have passed. When the bell rung signaling the end of second period Gabriella was already out the door. She didn't know why she was in such a hurry, Sharpay was always late anyway. She got to class with four minutes to spare. She got out her notebook and her copy of 'The Great Gatsby' which they were going to start reading today in class. Every few seconds she would glance toward the doorway. She kept telling herself to stop it, to calm down. That it didn't matter when the other girl got there, that she shouldn't care so much, but those thoughts were interrupted when she glanced at the doorway for the fifteenth time. Gabriella's eyes got wide and she audibly gulped. Sharpay walked into class looking absolutely stunning. She was wearing an impossibly short denim skirt, a black and white checkered quarter sleeve jacket. Accessorized with a pair of diamond studded high heels, a large heart shaped diamond necklace, topped off with her perfect wavy blonde hair spilling over her shoulders. Gabriella was staring, and she knew it. But how could she not? Her eyes traveled from the blondes shoes up her long tanned legs. 'Damn that skirt is short!' She thought. She wasn't even sure how the blonde was being allowed to wear it! She was pretty sure there were some dress code regulations that were being violated, but she certainly wasn't going to be complaining about it. She bit her bottom lip and took a deep breath. She had a feeling this was going to be a long day.

Luckily Gabriella had managed to get through lunch without thinking about the other girl. Her group of friends had kept her mind occupied, which she was very thankful for. Every time she thought about the blonde, her mind would take her places she wasn't ready for. While she had waited all weekend for Science class, she was dreading it now. Sitting that close to Sharpay when she was wearing…._that. _Just the idea was making her nervous. Instead of arriving to class early she decided to wait until Sharpay was already in there, that way she would already be sitting down, and Gabriella wouldn't get distracted by her long perfect legs. It was a good idea in theory. And it might have worked had Sharpay not been standing at the teacher's desk talking to him. As soon as Gabriella saw that, she immediately shut her eyes, then opened them again while looking the opposite direction. She made her way to her seat and sat down. She had to close her eyes again as Sharpay was now directly in front of her. 'God' she thought. 'What the hell is wrong with me? Get it together!' She kept her eyes closed until she heard the chair next to her move and knew the other girl had sat down. When she opened her eyes, she just focused on the teacher.

"Ok everyone, today you will get your first lab. I will pass out the paperwork and I will give you all a few minutes to read it over. When everyone is done, I will answer any questions you have and then you will have the rest of the class to discuss it with your partner." Mr. Cook told the class.

'Shit.' Gabriella thought to herself. 'The whole rest of the class? That's going to be like forty minutes!' How in the hell was she supposed to get through forty minutes of talking with Sharpay without staring at her or saying something completely stupid!? The teacher handed out the paper and she tried so hard to focus on it, but it took her 3 or 4 times of reading the same sentence before she could get through it all. She was hoping she would have questions for Mr. Cook as to delay the discussion time. Unfortunately she didn't have any questions. Only one person in the class did.

"Ok, well if there are no more questions, then please, start discussing with your partner." Mr. Cook said while he sat down at his desk.

'Here goes nothing' Gabriella thought to herself as she turned to face Sharpay.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: I know its short and its not exactly what i wanted, but im leaving for Vegas in about 5 hours for a week and ive been busy getting ready for that so I havent had much time to write. And i wanted to update before i left. And there probably wont be an update until after I get back. But the more reviews I get, the faster you will get an update! _

Gabriella was now facing Sharpay who of course, was not paying any attention to her. She was holding up the lab paper with both hands and Gabriella was pretty sure she was only pretending to read it. She was about to say something when she got distracted by Sharpay's hands. Her hands were slim and her fingers were long and slender. 'I bet they're soft' Gabriella thought absentmindedly. 'Wait! Soft? What the…?' She shook her head and covered her face with her hands and took a deep breath. "Soooo….." Gabriella dragged out. "I guess we should talk about the lab now…"

Finally Sharpay turned her head in Gabriella's direction. "Ok, I guess we could start with the math part."

"I think I already figured that out." The brunette replied nervously. After she finally got through reading the whole paper she was still having a hard time not looking at the other girl. So she decided to focus on the math part of the lab.

"What? Already? How? Are you some kind of math genius or something?" Sharpay questioned.

Gabriella just shrugged and said "I like math."

Sharpay just looked at her in disbelief for a few seconds. "Well ok then. Looks like we have to do some research."

Gabriella nodded. She was a little disappointed; they could do this lab separately if they wanted to. They would just each have to do research on their own and then put the information together on Friday. But she thought it couldn't hurt to ask about working together though. "So we could each do some research separately or we could work on it together?" she said hopefully.

Sharpay thought about it for a few moments before answering "We might as well just do it together so we will for sure have everything ready for Friday."

Gabriella had to bite her tongue to keep from smiling too much. "Ok yeah, sounds good. When should we work on it?"

Sharpay took out her blackberry and looked through her calendar. "Well I'm only available Wednesday after school." She replied.

"Well it just so happens I'm free then as well." Gabriella said.

Sharpay chuckled lightly. "Of course you are, what else would you possibly have to do?" She said rudely.

The brunette was a little taken aback at that. As she had told her mom, Sharpay hadn't been overly nice but she hadn't been mean either. Till now. She was slightly hurt by that so she replied with "Well I do have friends you know. I know you might not understand that concept because you don't have any….but I do." She hadn't really wanted to say it. But she wasn't going to let the other girl get away with being rude to her.

The blonde opened her mouth in surprise and then composed herself and said "I have friends."

"Your brother doesn't count." Gabriella replied quickly.

Sharpay just glared angrily at her for a minute and mumbled "Whatever." Then turned her attention back to the papers in front of her.

'What just happened?' Gabriella thought to herself. She was confused. She had expected that Sharpay would say something back. She had certainly _not _expected her to just let it go. She waited a few moments for the other girl to say something but she didn't. Now she almost felt bad for saying anything in the first place. _Almost. _Gabriella didn't want to push her luck so she didn't say anything else. They sat quietly, the only noise being the chatter of the other classmates. Not knowing what to do next, the brunette just decided to go over the math problems and make sure she had done them right.

After about 15 minutes Sharpay finally turned to Gabriella and said "Can we do the research at your house?"

Gabriella jumped at the sound of Sharpay's voice and smacked her knee on the underside of the table causing her pencil to roll onto the ground. "Ow!" She said aloud as she rubbed her knee with her right hand.

"Sorry to startle you." Sharpay said sincerely as she reached down to pick up the fallen pencil.

Gabriella just shook her head and said "Its fine."

Sharpay handed her the pencil and her fingers brushed against Gabriella's hand. Gabriella froze at the contact. She didn't move, she didn't breath. She just sat there staring at the pencil in her hand. 'She barely touched you, get a grip Gabriella!' she mentally yelled at herself.

"Something wrong?" Sharpay asked confused.

"What!? No! I'm fine." Gabriella squeaked out as she threw the pencil onto the desk and quickly folded her hands together.

"Ooook." Sharpay said while giving the other girl a weird look.

'Way to go Gabriella. Now she thinks you're insane.' She thought to herself. "So you want to do the research at my house?" She asked curiously. She wasn't sure why the other girl would suggest that, not that it wasn't ok, she had just figured she would want to work at her house, or the library or something.

"Is that ok?" Sharpay asked not giving her a reason why she wanted to go there.

Gabriella nodded her head enthusiastically "Yeah. That's perfectly fine."

"Ok great. So Wednesday after school, your house." Sharpay said while she packed up her stuff. There was only 9 minutes of class left.

Gabriella opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by Troy jumping up and sitting on the edge of her desk. "Hi Troy." She said somewhat annoyed. She was hoping to talk to Sharpay a bit more before they left.

"Hey, so did you decided if you're going to come to the game on Friday?" he asked hopefully.

Gabriella shook her head "No I haven't decided yet. As I told Taylor this morning, it depends on how much homework I have for the weekend."

Troy nodded his head slowly. "Ok, but I hope you can make it. It's the first game of the season and well, I'd like you to be there." He said somewhat shyly.

The whole time Troy was sitting there Gabriella kept glancing out of the corner of her eye at the blonde and she could have sworn Sharpay was glaring at him. But she shrugged it off figuring it was just her imagination. She was about to answer Troy when the bell rang. Everyone got up and made their way to the door. She knew she wouldn't have a chance to answer Troy now because he would have to hurry to get to gym class. She walked a few paces behind Sharpay as she walked to Spanish. She kept looking all over the place; she didn't want anyone to realize that she was staring at the girl in front of her. When she got to class she took her seat and immediately let her mind wander to what she thought Wednesday would be like.

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	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: I wanted there to be more to this one but I don't have time at the moment to add more and I wanted to at least get something up for you guys. I will write more at work tonight!_

Gabriella wasn't sure how she made it through the rest of Monday and all of Tuesday. She was anxious and extremely nervous to have Sharpay over. She was also a little worried about Sharpay meeting her mom. She really hoped she would be nice. She wanted her mother to like the blonde. Now it was Wednesday morning and Gabriella was getting ready for school. She had half the contents of her closet sprawled out on her bed. She wanted to look her best today. But nothing seemed to be what she wanted. She was starting to become frustrated and threw yet another dress onto the pile. "God why do I have no clothes?!" She yelled to herself. She moved the clothes over and sat down on her bed. 'Ok just take a deep breath' she thought to herself. She sat on the bed for a few minutes breathing deeply and trying to calm herself down. She wasn't even sure why she was freaking out so much. She just knew she wanted to wear something nice today, she was going to be hanging out with Sharpay and she knew she wouldn't have a chance to change later so she had to pick out the right outfit now. 'Why do I care if she likes what I'm wearing?' she asked herself. She was beginning to think she knew the answer but she wasn't quite ready to admit it. She got up and rummaged through the pile of clothes again, finally settling on a black and white sundress that fell just below her knees. She quickly changed into it and then started putting everything back in her closet. Once everything was put away she did a once over of her room, making sure it was clean and nothing was out of place. She grabbed her backpack and slipped on a pair of flip flops and headed downstairs.

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Finally it was 4th period. She got to see Sharpay in her last class but they don't talk in that class so she had been waiting all day for science. She couldn't even eat her lunch. Hell she couldn't even sit still. The whole time Taylor and Troy just bombarded her with questions about why she was so 'off', as they put it. She couldn't tell them it was because she was excited about spending time with Sharpay so she just shrugged and told them she must have had too much coffee before school. They didn't seem to buy it but they let it go. Now she was walking down the hallway with Troy. He was talking but she was in her own world and didn't hear a thing he was saying. They walked into class and took their seats. Sharpay wasn't there yet. Gabriella got out her notebook and placed it in front of her while never tearing her eyes away from the doorway. Right as the bell rung Sharpay sauntered in and Gabriella quickly looked down. She didn't want the other girl to notice she was staring. Sharpay pulled out her chair and took her seat next to the brunette.

"Hi." Gabriella said politely.

Sharpay turned and smiled at her. "Hi" she replied back before she turned back around to get her stuff out of her bag.

'She smiled at me! God that smile…..'Gabriella trailed off in her head.

Gabriella was highly disappointed as the rest of the class went on. The teacher was giving a lecture which they had to take notes on, so there was no time to talk to the other girl. But Mr. Cook finished up 5 minutes before the bell rang. As soon as he finished talking Gabriella turned to the other girl and said "So you're still going to come over after school today right?"

Sharpay finished packing her bag before turning her attention to the brunette and answering "That was the plan."

Gabriella just nodded her head "Ok cool, so um, do you wanna just follow me there after school?" she asked while she fiddled with her hands.

"Sounds good. I'll meet you out front and then we can go." Sharpay replied as she stood up to walk towards the door.

"Ok, see you then." Gabriella said while trying not smile too much.

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They had met up out front after school and Gabriella pointed out her car to Sharpay so she could follow her. Gabriella was now pulling into her driveway with the blondes pink convertible right behind. She parked her car and got out. She waited for the other girl to do the same. She noticed her phone was ringing and she grabbed it out of her purse and answered it.

"Hello." She said into the phone.

"Hey Gabby!" The voice on the other end of the line responded.

Gabriella smiled and roller her eyes at the same time. "Hi Troy." School had been out for all of 15 minutes and he was already calling her. Sharpay had gotten out of her car and was now walking towards Gabriella.

"What can I do for you?" Gabriella asked into the phone while motioning for the other girl to follow her towards the front door.

Troy wanted to hang out. "I'm sorry Troy, I can't. I'm doing research for the lab with Sharpay today."

"You're actually like hanging out with the ice princess? You know you guys don't have to do it together right? I mean, Martha and I are working on it separately." Troy said confused.

"Yes Troy, we are working on it together and I'm actually looking forward to it." Gabriella admitted while smiling at Sharpay. The blonde smiled back just as wide.

"Sorry Troy I gotta go, we're at my house now but I'll talk to you later." Gabriella said quickly and hung up before he had a chance to say anything else.

They walked into the house and Sharpay followed Gabriella into the kitchen. Her mom was standing behind the counter pouring a glass of milk.

"Hi mom." Gabriella said as she took a seat on one of the bar stools. Sharpay did the same. "Mom, this is Sharpay. Sharpay this is my mother." Gabriella introduced. She was unbelievably nervous at the moment. She was praying to god Sharpay would be nice. She really wanted her mother to like the other girl and to prove that what her co-workers said was wrong.

"It's nice to meet you Ms. Montez." Sharpay said politely.

"Likewise." Ms. Montez replied while smiling at Gabriella.

Sharpay glanced around the house before saying "What is that delicious smell?"

Gabriella smiled at her and then at her mother. "I believe my mother is making brownies." She should have known her mom would do that.

Ms. Montez turned around and opened the oven removing a plate of brownies. "She's right." She said as she placed the plate on the counter. "Please, help yourself." She gestures to the brownies.

"Are you sure?" Sharpay asked.

"Of course! I made them for you two, have as many as you like!" Her mother replied animatedly.

"Thank you." Sharpay said as she reached out and grabbed a brownie off the plate. Gabriella took one as well. "Oh my gosh! These have to be the best brownies I have ever tasted!" Sharpay practically squealed as she finished her first bite.

"Well thank you Sharpay." Gabriella's mother replied sweetly. "I love to bake, and these are Gabby's favorites."

"Well thank you so much for making them for us. They really are delicious Ms. Montez." The blonde said before taking another bite.

"Anytime. And please, call me Maria." She said.

Gabriella couldn't stop grinning. She was so happy right now. Everything was going perfect. Sharpay was being wonderfully sweet and she could tell her mom liked her.

"Thanks for the brownies ma, we're gonna go upstairs and get started on our research." Gabriella said as she picked up her stuff.

"Ok sweetie." Her mom replied.

Gabriella was about to turn around and head upstairs when she saw Sharpay eyeing the brownies. She chuckled lightly and reached out and grabbed the plate and winked at the other girl. Sharpay just smiled and followed her up to her room.

They walked into Gabriella's room and set their stuff down on the bed. Sharpay looked around the room for a bit. "I like your room." She said sincerely.

Gabriella blushed lightly and dropped her head down a bit. "Thank you." She replied softly.

"So I figure we can go through some websites online and then print out what we need and then we can each go through some of them and then put it all together?" Gabriella said.

Sharpay nodded her head. "Ok, yeah that sounds good."

"Ok." Gabriella said as she glanced around her room nervously. "Um, so I only have one chair for the desk, soooo we could take the laptop and sit on the bed?"

"That's fine, that's probably more comfortable anyway." The blonde said.

Gabriella moved towards the desk and unhooked her laptop from the charger. They positioned themselves on the bed, backs against the headboard, legs extended out. She placed the laptop in the middle of them. They were sitting very close together, so close their arms and legs were touching. Gabriella was suddenly very aware. She was aware of everything. Every move she made, every breath she took was calculated. She could feel the blondes' smooth leg against her own and she couldn't help but think how good it felt. Her heart was beating so loud she as sure the other girl could hear it. She willed herself to just concentrate on the project and ignore the jolts of electricity she felt every time the other girl's soft skin rubbed against her own. She pulled the internet up and then let Sharpay do the rest. They found several websites with useful information and printed out several pages. During the 30 minutes of internet research they also managed to finish off the plate of brownies.

"Ok, so I think we have enough stuff to go through, so now we can just split the info we just got and go through it." Gabriella said as she glanced over at the printer that now had a good sized stack of papers in front of it. She picked up the laptop top and leaned forward to set it down on the foot of the bed. Sharpay got up and retrieved the papers from the printer and got her notebook from her bag. Gabriella immediately missed the contact. She hadn't fully realized how much she enjoyed the closeness until it was gone.

Sharpay rejoined her on the bed and started thumbing through the papers. She handed Gabriella a stack "Ok, I think this is just about even." Gabriella took the offered papers and placed them in front of her. She reached over the side of her bed and grabbed her own notebook out of her bag. The both sat on the bed, legs crossed, notebooks on laps and papers spread out in front of them. They weren't touching now but they were still close enough that Gabriella's heart was still racing.

After about 10 minutes of working in silence Gabriella asked "Do you mind if I put some music on? It just feels too quiet."

"No that's fine. I don't mind." Sharpay said looking up from her papers at the other girl.

Gabriella leaned forward and grabbed her laptop and put on some Missy Higgins. She hoped her choice would be ok with the blonde. When Sharpay didn't say anything about it, she decided her choice must be ok.

They continued to work for a while longer and Gabriella was starting to feel more at ease. Her attention was fully focused on the task at hand. "You'd make boundaries you'd never dream to cross, and if you happen to you'll wake completely lost. But I will fight for you, be sure that I will fight until we are the special two once again." Gabriella sang softly with the music.

"You're good." Sharpay said looking up at the brunette.

"Huh?" Gabriella said confused, not knowing what the other girl was referring too.

"You're singing. You're good." Sharpay said.

Gabriella's eyes got wide and she blushed a deep shade of red. She hadn't been aware that she was singing aloud. She was so caught up in the research she hadn't noticed.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry for interrupting you, I didn't realize I was doing that." She rushed out.

Sharpay smiled at her. "Its ok, like I said. You're good." She paused for a second and then continued. "Have you thought about trying out for the winter musical?"

"What? No way!" She exclaimed. She had seen a couple flyers around school advertising the auditions but she hadn't given it a second thought. "I'm not that good." She said seriously.

Sharpay shrugged her shoulders "I dunno, I didn't hear much but from what I did hear, it seems you can sing very well."

Gabriella bit her bottom lip and smiled shyly. "Thanks." She waited a beat before asking "Are you going to be in it?"

Sharpay nodded her head enthusiastically "I've been in all the school plays at East High."

"Really?" Gabriella asked. She hadn't known that.

"Yup, I love theater. I've been doing it for as long as I can even remember. The singing, dancing, acting…….I love it." She said sincerely. Gabriella could tell she meant that.

"That's really cool, I wish I had the courage to do something like that." Gabriella replied turning away from the other girl.

Sharpay reached over and lightly placed her hand on top of Gabriella's "Hey, its ok, a lot of people are afraid to try it.." she waited a few moments before adding "I um, I could help you if you want?" She wasn't entirely sure what she was doing, but she just didn't seem to be able to help herself.

Gabriella whipped her head back towards the blonde at the touch. 'She's touching my hand. She's touching my hand. On purpose!' Her mind was shouting at her. It was so deafening she almost didn't hear the words that came along with the contact. 'She's touching me and she wants to help me?' She was trying to wrap her head around the situation. She had to make sure she heard correctly.

"Y-You would help me?" She finally managed to get out while glancing at their hands.

Sharpay realized her hand was still on top of the brunettes and quickly removed it. "Yeah, I mean, if you wanted of course, you don't have too, but I think you might be good at it and I could give you some tips and pointers and-" She stopped short, Gabriella was looking at her funny.

When Sharpay stopped talking and looked at the other girl with questioning eyes Gabriella smiled sweetly and just said "You were starting to ramble." Sharpay immediately looked down and suddenly found her hands very interesting. Seeing that the other girl was embarrassed she added "It was cute." Sharpay looked up and locked eyes with the other girl who seemed to be blushing just as much as she was.


	6. Chapter 6

Well to everyone who would like me to update this story…I have good news…Im writing the next chapter pretty much at this very moment. Real life sorta got in the way but im in the hospital for a couple days and I have some free time. So I figure it will be up by Monday at the latest! Thanks for hangin in there!!


	7. Chapter 7

Mondays were usually the most unfavored day of the week by the general public. Normally Gabriella didn't think she fit into that category as she loved going to school. Today however, was a different story. Last week she thought things were going good between her and Sharpay. They seemed to have a 'moment' while they were working on their lab on Wednesday. But then Sharpay didn't show up to school on Thursday and was only there to turn in their lab on Friday. Sharpay didn't utter a single word to Gabriella. The brunette was a little surprised. Sure she didn't think they were going to act like best friends or anything but the blonde acted like she had the black plague for crying out loud. She would hardly even look at her. So Gabriella spent the weekend sulking. It wasn't something she wanted to do, she didn't want to care. But she was upset, and she didn't have anyone to talk to about it. Taylor and Troy had tried their hardest to get her to go to the basketball game but she didn't think she would be very good company. She knew Taylor would keep asking her what was wrong, she could be very persistent sometimes. This was just something Gabriella was going to have to deal with on her own. She spent the weekend at home doing homework and a lot of thinking. She came to the conclusion that she wasn't going to let the blonde get to her. If Sharpay didn't want to talk to her then fine. She would get over it. Well at least that's what she kept telling herself. Now it was Monday morning and she was about to find out if she could stick to that.

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"Hey girl, are you feeling better?" Taylor asked when Gabriella walked into homeroom.

Gabriella looked momentarily confused at the question until she remembered that she had told Taylor she hadn't been feeling well and that's why she couldn't go to the game. She felt bad for lying to her friend but she hadn't known what else to do.

"Yup!" She replied excitedly. "I'm feeling a lot better, thank you."

"That's good, it sucked you couldn't go to the game though! I mean I love Chad and all, but sometimes the games are a little boring." Taylor replied a little sheepishly.

" Don't worry Tay, I promise I will go to the next one with you."

"You better!"

The bell rang, class started and Gabriella was so far feeling pretty happy. Just concentrating on her best friend and her school work. If she could keep this up the rest of the day she'd be golden.

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3rd period finally rolled around and while Gabby had managed to maintain her relative happiness so far, she knew she was going to have to try harder to keep it up now. She stood outside the classroom trying to calm her nerves. She was pretty certain the blonde wasn't in there yet and decided that she would try and sit in front today so she wouldn't even have to see her. She walked into class and sure enough, Sharpay was not there yet. She took a seat in the very front of the class and got out her reading material. Her heart was starting to pound. It was so loud she could hear it, feel it in almost every part of her body. '_Jeez calm down' _she was mentally telling herself. '_Deep breaths, in and out_.' She followed her own instructions and took several long deep breathes until she felt her heart rate recede. The bell rang and she knew Sharpay was sitting somewhere behind her. She could feel it, but she resisted the urge to turn around.

By the end of the class, Gabriella was feeling quite proud of herself for actually getting her work done and not letting Sharpay get to her. Though she knew that it was Science class that would really be the hardest. But at least she had lunch in between and she was hoping her friends could help her mind clear. She packed up her bag slowly, not wanting to leave class until she knew the other girl was already gone.

The brunette made her way to their usual table in the cafeteria where her friends were already waiting for her.

"Hey Gabby, how are you?" Troy asked as soon as she sat down.

"Im really good." she replied smiling.

"Its too bad you had to miss the game. It was awesome!" He said excitedly

"Yeah, we totally kicked ass!" Chad chimed in.

She laughed. "Im sure you did Chad, as I told Taylor earlier, I promise I will go to the next one."

"Sweet." Both Chad and Troy said simultaneously as everyone dug into their food.

"So how was it working with the ice queen?" Troy finally asked after a few minutes of silence.

Gabriella visibly froze. She was really hoping no one would bring that up. She didn't know what to tell them. It had been great. They got along. Her mother loved her. And now she wouldn't talk to her. Her friends already didn't like her and this would just make them hate her more. And despite the blondes behavior, she still didn't want that. So she decided to be neutral.

"It was good." was all she said.

They all stared at her. Waiting for her to say something else. When she didn't Troy prompted "and….?"

"And nothing. We had some brownies, talked a bit, worked on our lab and then she went home." She replied, trying not to sound as bitter as she felt.

Taylor could tell there was more to the story but she didn't want to pry, especially in front of the boys. So before Troy could ask any more questions, she decided to change the subject.

"You should come over tonight Gabby. My parents are out of town and I hate being home alone." Taylor said.

Gabby nodded her head "Yeah I could probably do that. I just gotta ask my mom first!" She was actually really happy to be going to Taylors. If anyone could distract her from whatever she was feeling, it would be Taylor.

When lunch was over Troy, like usual, walked with Gabriella to class. The closer they got to the door, the more nervous she became. She didn't think Troy would notice as he didn't seem to be the most observant person on the planet. She was willing herself to concentrate on the taller boy to her left, to listen to what he was saying and not think about anything else. But it wasn't working. She knew she was going to have to not only see the other girl, but sit next to her as well. What should she expect? Would she ignore her again? Would things be back to how they were? Should she say hi first? She bit her bottom lip as they approached the door and with one final deep breath, entered the room.

Somehow the blonde had gotten there before her and was already seated at their desk. She had her sparkly notebook in front and her and appeared to be reading whatever was written on it. She was twirling her pen between her long slender fingers, occasionally lifting it to her mouth and gently biting the end of it. Gabby couldn't stop staring. She stood in the doorway with her mouth hanging open slightly, not taking her eyes off the blonde. She stayed that way until Sharpay glanced up in her direction and they locked eyes for a split second. Then Gabby's eyes got wide and her mouth snapped shut. She swallowed hard and moved towards her seat.

All her resolve was slowly melting away the longer she sat next to the other girl. She was still hurt from her behavior but she couldn't sit there and not say anything. She was so nervous she was pretty sure she was shaking. She took a chance and turned to face the other girl and simply said "hi."

Sharpay slowly turned her head in Gabby's direction and just stared at her for a second. Her eyes were a little puffy and she looked sullen. "Hi" she replied, then turned back to her notebook. Gabriella didn't really know what to make of that. The other girl hadn't seem happy, but she didn't seem mad either. She seemed……sad. She kept sneaking glances at her trying to figure out what was wrong. She didn't want Sharpay to be sad. It shocked her how much she didn't want her to be sad. Right now, all she wanted was for her to be happy. She wanted to see her smile. She was so gorgeous when she smiled. '_God, what is wrong with me. She acts like I don't exist and now I'm trying to think of ways to make her happy?_' She thought to herself. Sitting there quietly for a while she was finally honest with herself. ' _I _like_ Sharpay_.'


End file.
